Race to the Bottom

My buddy Gimlin and I decided to do a pod cast.  It's not about anything really, rather it's just two jackasses being obnoxious and drinking beer.  You can find the podcast on The Butt Dump.  It's rated R for both language and for the two re-tards doing the talking and is NSFW if you work at a place like that.

Windows Binaries for QT Canon

A while back I compiled some Windows binaries for my QT Canon application.  I did a couple of videos with it, but I sold my DSLR before I got to play too much with it.  Until I get a new camera SLR, the QT Canon project is on hold (mainly because I don't have a camera to test with).  At any rate, I figured I'd put the binaries so that others could play around with it.  There are bugs in the app, and this is beta at best, but feel free to download and make some cool time lapse videos.  All you have to do is download the zip file and then extract it some where.  Then plug your camera in, turn it on, and then fire up the application.  On Linux, the app will find your camera even if you start the app before you plug the camera in.  This is not the case on Windows though.  You must plug in your camera, turn it on, and then start the app.  From there you just set up a few things and start shooting.  Have fun!

Download for Windows (XP/Vista/7): QT Canon

I recommend turning off the auto focus when shooting time lapse.  Otherwise the camera has a tendency to "hunt for focus" between shots, and this can produce a jerky video when stitched back together.  Kind of like this one I made with my Canon Rebel:

I bet you don't have this much fun driving to work

Over the last few years, I've tried to ride my bike to work as much as I could in the summer (along with taking the bus).  I recently got a new single speed mountain bike, and for some reason, I've been having a ton of fun riding.  Add to this, I have a GoPro camera which I really want to use more, and my need to become a better video editor, and you've got the potential for some good video.  I took this video one day on my way to work and here is what I've got so far:

This is only part one, as it's time consuming as hell to get good video by yourself, and I just didn't have time to do the entire ride.  I hope to get a bunch more footage and put together part two in the next few weeks.

Anyway, here are the details on the video:

Camera: GoPro HD helmet camera

Song: DLZ by TV on the Radio

Edited With: Kdenlive on Ubuntu

10.10.10

Flickr had a blog post about 10.10.10 encourageing people to snap a picture for the unique date.  I decided to do a quick grab with my phone, and here is what I came up with:

Pretty lame to just shoot a watch, but at least I got 10.10.10 @ 10:10....

Gang Ride number three

I missed the second gang ride, which was held up at Centennial Cone.  No big deal, I heard they got wet anyway.  Gang Ride three was planned only a week after the second ride, and took place at Heil Ranch in between Boulder and Lyons.  A guy I work with Ray planned this ride, and thought it would be a great idea to hit up Heil.  Cool thing for me is this trail is rocky as hell and I'm the only one on a hard tail....neat.  All this rock made for a seriously sore taint the next day.  Despite all that though, I had a great time.  Instead of bringing my point and shoot tough, I brought the GoPro.  I shot this stuff in 720p, and now I'm wishing I would have sprung for 1080p.  Ahh well, next time.  Anyway, this first clip is from the chest mount when Brandon was wearing it.  Brandon is semi-pro and rips (as you can see in the video):

I also decided that I'm gonna start riding with clipless pedals again.  This ride was super rocky, and I had to slow down a ton just to keep my feet on the pedals.  I had eag beaters on my last bike, and didn't relaly mind them, I just hated commuting to work on them because I had to carry my shoes in my back pack.  This time, I've got some egg beaters with a platform.  I'm gonna try this setup for a bit and see how it goes.

Anyway, there were a ton of clips, and I'm sure I could mix a good video, but I'll just post this last raw video of Brandon follwoing me to the finish.  I'm pretty tired at this point, but I still seem to be going alright.  Make sure to check out the end when we just start bombing down the road to the truck.  Brandon is going crazy fast at this point:

Here's looking to the GR4....

- - Rob